Sienna went back to the hotel, feeling exhausted and empty. That meeting with Astro had taken her a lot of energy and self control, for she had been so scared to make a mistake. Especially with that Rocky person who had been observing her the whole time, and she was pretty sure he didn't trust her. She would have to work a lot on that. But now wasn't the time to think about it, now she had to rest. She went to the bathroom and had a bath to relax her sore body. She closed her eyes, and slowly started to doze. She was suddenly awakened by her phone vibrating. She opened her eyes widely, and blinked a few times before yawning and turning to grab her phone. It was a text from an unknown number. "Rest well," it said. "See you tomorrow. KM" Sienna frowned, feeling confused for a moment, then her face brightened up : "of course!" she thought. "Kwang-min… Wait… I don't remember giving him my number… Did I? Gosh, I feel so tired I don't even remember. Maybe I did… Oh whatever. I'll ask tomorrow."
Sienna got out of the bathtub, grabbed her long white bathrobe to put on, and slowly walked to her bedroom. She yawned as she plopped on her bed, and glanced around the room for no reason, before putting her phone on her nightstand. As she was about to get into her pajamas, she heard a loud knock on her door. She frowned, for it was nearly two o'clock in the morning. Who could it be at this late hour of the night? She felt her stomach twist as fear rose inside her heart. She closed her bathrobe, and grabbed her gun, then she slowly walked to the door. The loud knock started again as she was close to the door, making her jump. She shook her head, took a deep breath, and opened the door, her gun ready to fire at any sign of danger…
"What the hell, Simon!" she angrily hissed as she saw her partner standing in front of her. "It's two o'clock in the morning! I was about to go to bed, I'm tired!"
"I needed to see you, it's important," Simon replied, coldly.
"Can't it wait?" Sienna retorted, frowning, the anger becoming stronger.
"No, it cannot," Simon said. He pushed the door open, and closed it before walking closer to Sienna. He grabbed her arm and dragged her in the living room. He glanced at the couch, hesitating, then crossed his arms on his chest and looked at Sienna, angrily. "I saw you," he said. Sienna raised an eyebrow, then sighed.
"Look, Simon, I really don't have time for this. I'm exhausted, I just want to sleep. Get to the point."
Simon stared at Sienna's tired face, but didn't feel any pity. "I saw you at that club, dancing with him." he said. "What was that, Sienna? What the hell was that?!" he repeated, his tone growing louder and angrier. "You're on a mission! You're not here to dance with random guys, flirt and date!!" His nostrils flared.
Sienna rubbed her eyes and yawned. "What are you talking about, Simon?"
"Don't play innocent! You were dancing, then talking with that handsome Korean guy. I know what I saw."
"How? Did you follow me?" Sienna asked suspiciously. "Look who's talking about accomplishing the mission well," she scoffed. "I don't recall Mr Kong telling you your mission was to follow me…"
"Don't twist my words!" Simon interrupted as he stepped forward. "Who is that guy anyway?"
"He's the target," Sienna stated, unbothered. "Along with the five other boys I spent time with before leaving."
"He didn't look like it! The way you danced with him--"
"Oh my gosh, Simon!" Sienna impatiently interrupted. "That was part of the act!"
"It didn't look like it. You seemed in love with him."
"What if I was?" Sienna asked defiantly. Simon shivered and he felt a knot twist his stomach.
"You can't…" he murmured.
"And why not, pray tell?" Sienna snapped. "You followed me, without telling me, and then you burst into my apartment in the middle of the night to yell at me like I'm some kind of-- of-- child who made a mistake," Sienna furiously exclaimed, her finger pointing towards Simon. "But let me tell you this : I didn't make any mistake, I am doing what I was asked to do, and I'm doing it MY way. You don't like it? I don't care! I don't need you to follow me around to protect me or look after me. I'm not a child or a weak person. I can take care of myself. Ugh!! I'm so furious right now!" Sienna yelled. She turned her back to Simon, and rubbed her right temple with the point of her gun. She then spinned towards him. "Why did you come now, anyway? Why couldn't you wait tomorrow evening for our meeting?"
"Because I needed to say this to you privately, without any people around."
"Why?"
"Because!" Simon snapped. "Because I hate the idea of seeing you with a man, I hate the idea of you being in any danger! I just… I can't stand it!"
Sienna looked at her friend, slowly processing what he was saying. She backed a few steps, staring at the young man, unsure and afraid of what he would say next. "What do you mean, Simon," she slowly asked.
"What I mean is… I… I don't know! I feel… I think I like you more than a friend. I didn't want to tell you this now, but I was scared."
"Simon," Sienna breathed. "You don't mean what you're saying. Tell me this is a joke, please! I can't lose you as a friend!" The young girl was exhausted, and this argument was killing the last piece of energy she had. She felt tears in her eyes.
"I do," the young man said as he stepped closer to Sienna. "I've been feeling that way for a long time, I can't hold it in any longer."
"Stop it!" Sienna exclaimed. "I don't want to hear this!" She started walking away, but Simon grabbed her arm and made her spin towards him, their faces inches apart. Sienna felt surprised, and as Simon was approaching his face to hers, she slapped him and pushed him away. "I said stop! Get out!" she yelled, as tears started running down her cheeks. "Out!"
"Sienna, please!"
"I said get. the hell. out of here." she said with gritted teeth, her gun pointing towards the door.
Simon felt his eyes water, but he kept staring at the young girl, pleadingly, until he realised it was no use. He finally left, leaving an even more exhausted Sienna than before. She was standing in the middle of the living room, her messy hair around her cheeks where tears kept flowing, her arms along her body, her gaze into the void. What had just happened? Was it all a dream? She stayed for a moment without moving, then, she finally went to bed. She quickly fell asleep, and woke up the next day at two o'clock in the afternoon.
As she woke up, the events of the night came back to her mind, and made her angry and sad. She shook her head, pushed her blanket away, got up and got ready for running. She really wasn't in the mood for doing anything else. An hour later, she was sweating and a little breathless, but she decided to go back to her hotel. When she arrived, she went straight to the shower, then prepared herself a nice lunch, went to smoke a cigarette on the balcony whilst the food was heating up, had lunch, and decided to go out for some shopping. She hadn't done that in a long time, and given the fact that she was feeling very down that day, shopping would definitely put her mind off of this matter. And indeed, it did. She found her happiness in trying on clothes and buying them. It had been such a long time since she hadn't been able to do that! She savored every single moment of that afternoon. As she got out of a shop, six or seven bags in her hands, looking happy and feeling great, Sienna suddenly realised she was just a few feet away from three people she immediately recognised. The youngest one was the first one to recognise her.
"Brooke!" he exclaimed as he waved at her. Sienna flashed him a bright smile and walked up to him.
"Annyeong, Sanha!" she joyfully greeted the young man. She then turned her eyes to the left to see Rocky, who gave her a tight smile. "Annyeong, Rocky," she said shyly. And on her right was Eunwoo, who warmly smiled at her. "Annyeong, Eunwoo!"
"I'm so happy you're here!" Sanha excitedly said. "We're actually waiting for Moonbin right now! MJ and Jinjin are busy. We have our day off. Would you like to join us?"
"I don't think I'm very welcome here," Sienna gently laughed, seeming a little awkward. "I'm sorry, I don't want to be a bother. I'll be off--"
"Stay." Sienna froze, and turned to the person who had spoken. Rocky was staring at her, and his eyes softened. "I'm sorry," he said. "I'm not comfortable with strangers. But Sanha hyung seems to really like you, and wants you to stay. I'd like to give you a chance, for his sake."
Sienna nodded and smiled. "Thank you, Rocky," she said.
"Moonbin! Finally!" Sanha exclaimed as he saw the tall handsome man approach. Sienna spinned on her heels to face her friend. He froze as he saw her, his eyes wide open, then smiled at her and joined the group.
"I didn't know you would be joining us," Moonbin smiled.
"I'm sorry, maybe I'm interrupting…" Sienna started.
"No, it's a good thing!" Moonbin assured. "I gave you the wrong impression. But please, stay. Would you like me to help you with your bags? You have quite a lot there!"
"Thank you, that's so kind of you. Well, since you asked, I wouldn't mind a little help!" Sienna laughed. Moonbin took three bags, and Rocky offered to take one. Then Eunwoo rushed to take the three left. "Ya, I could have taken some!" Sienna said.
"No, no. You're a little lady among four gentlemen, we can't let you carry the bags!" Moonbin replied as they started walking. Sienna smiled and followed. That day, she decided to focus on making Rocky trust her. So, when they arrived in the café, she sat down next to him.
"You don't mind, do you?" she asked shyly.
"No, please," Rocky said, surprised.
"Thanks." They started talking, and as time went by, Rocky seemed more and more comfortable with Sienna. He even started smiling and joking around with Eunwoo. That was a relief for Sienna: now, it would be easier to hang out with all of them and retrieve any interesting information she could find from them, about the Fantagio company. "Oh, gosh! It's already six o'clock," she suddenly said. "I have to get ready for tonight. I had a lovely time with you all, I hope to see you very soon." Sienna grabbed her bags, but Moonbin stopped her.
"Wait," he said. "Let me help you and accompany you."
Sienna looked at him, startled. Their eyes locked, and the young girl felt tingling running through her body, and the floor suddenly became very interesting, as she cleared her throat and nervously smiled. "Uhm, okay, sure. Thank you."
Moonbin and Sienna walked out of the coffee shop, and started walking, slowly, to Sienna's hotel.
"You seemed sad and upset today," Moonbin started, breaking the silence. "What's wrong?"
"What do you mean?" Sienna asked, awkwardly. "I'm fine…"
"No you're not, I saw it in your eyes. You look as if you cried last night…"
Sienna suddenly remembered her argument with Simon, and it brought back the tears. But she didn't want Moonbin to see her cry, so she quickly swallowed back her tears, and rubbed her wet eyes. "I'm sorry… To tell you the truth, something did happen last night--"
"Wait… You looked fine when we were talking at the club… Did something happen when you went back to your apartment? Something bad?"
"No, I took a cab, I arrived safely. It was afterwards…"
"Did someone hurt you?" Moonbin asked softly, as he glanced at the young girl who kept her eyes on the floor. She sighed and glanced at Moonbin. Then again, their eyes met, and she felt that same weird tingling throughout her body. "Brooke?"
"Sorry," Sienna said. "Yes, someone did hurt me… My best friend, actually. He… He confessed he had feelings for me, but I don't. He tried to force himself on me. I'm afraid our friendship is ruined… But hey, I guess that's how life is, right?" She smiled.
"I'm sorry to hear that," Moonbin replied. "I don't know you that well yet, but the fact that he tried to force himself on you makes me very angry. Can I help in any way?"
"Moonbin…" Ah! Why this feeling again! "I'll be fine. I'm glad to see that I'm not alone, and that I can count on a friend like you, as well as your group of friends." The young girl smiled.
"Of course," Moonbin replied. "I'm here if you need me. You're a great person, and I'd love to get to know you better. That dance, last night, I loved it. You're very talented." Moonbin didn't want to tell her that during that dance, he had never felt so close to a person, so intimate. He had never felt that passion that had been consuming him during the whole tango. He had felt like he knew that girl for a long time…
"Thank you," the young spy said, making Moonbin snap out of his daydreaming. "I have a question, though. Is Rocky ever going to be more comfortable around me? I feel like he's still a little awkward."
"Give it time. He's a bit quiet at first. Once you get to know him, he's a great person, you'll see. But if you want to see that, you'll have to stick around for a long time," Moonbin winked.
"I intend to," Sienna smiled.
They kept quiet for a little while, both thinking. Sienna felt the presence of Moonbin reassuring; she had this feeling of security, as if the world could end right now, it wouldn't matter as long as he was here with her. But that thought making her feel good at first, made her heart ache : she was lying to him, she was acting, she was keeping secrets, and he was a target… She knew that if she grew closer to him, it would ruin everything. She glanced to the side and realised they had arrived.
"Well, this is me," she announced, as she stopped, Moonbin following. "Thank you for this afternoon," she smiled. "I had such a lovely time. And thank you for accompanying me as well."
"It was a pleasure," Moonbin smiled. "I hope I'll see you soon?"
"Sure, I'd like that." She took her bags, smiled at Moonbin, and started walking towards the entrance of the hotel.
"Wait!" Moonbin called behind her. He walked to her, and faced her, making Sienna feel tingly. "Can I… I think it'll be good if we had each other's number, so we can see each other, without having to wait for fate, to make us run into each other all the time," Moonbin said. He cleared his throat and scratched his head.
This was the part Sienna had dreaded. But she had to keep going. "Sure!" she nodded. She took her phone out, and gave it to Moonbin so he could put his phone number in it. He then called himself with Sienna's phone, so he could have her number as well.
"Thank you," he said. "Now I'll be reassured," he smiled. "Good luck for tonight. I'll try to come next week or something."
"I'll be looking forward to it then," Sienna said. She waved at Moonbin, grabbed her bags and left. Moonbin looked at her leave, and went back to join his friends. Sienna turned around to see him leave. This was getting complicated… She was growing fond of him. If she kept following that path, she knew she would put herself in danger. Was she really willing to take this risk?
In the shadows, hiding, a young man had been observing everything. He squeezed his gun.